Meta has developed a prototype of “super-sensing” smart glasses that use cameras and audio recordings to capture every moment of the wearer, reports the Financial Times ($).
The smart glasses continuously collect audio while taking photos every few seconds, allowing the user to leverage AI to help them query what they saw or heard, or remember their day, according to the report’s sources.
Meta’s current AI smart glasses have an LED in the corner of the frame that lights up to signal others when a wearer is taking photos or filming. But Meta executives don’t want to activate the LED when the super-sensing features are enabled.
Under a proposed system, raw footage and audio would not be stored by Meta or made available to the user, several people said. Instead, metadata from that audio and images would be extracted and uploaded to the server for Meta’s AI to query, which advocates say would have fewer privacy implications.
The company is also considering whether data collected through the glasses and their features could be used to train its own AI models, as it invests billions in rivals such as OpenAI, Google and Anthropic in the AI race.
The report suggests that the features could be enabled on Meta’s existing glasses via a software update.
Meta’s plan, which could still change, highlights the clear risks of smart glasses to civil liberty and privacy. Privacy experts say always-connected devices could violate data privacy or biometric laws. It is also unclear whether the company or the carrier would be liable for potential violations of wiretapping laws, given that several US states prohibit recording conversations with third parties without consent.
Meta’s existing Ray-Ban smart glasses already lack a visual indicator when AI is used to scan the wearer’s surroundings. The company says it protects privacy by removing key identifying information.
In February, it was reported that the social media giant had integrated an inactive facial recognition feature into its Ray-Ban smart glasses platform. The company later removed the system.
Apple is widely expected to launch its first smart glasses in 2027, designed in-house rather than through a partner brand.
Apple’s smart glasses are expected to include cameras, microphones, and AI capabilities, and will have the ability to take photos, record videos, provide translations, give step-by-step instructions, and much more. However, they will not have augmented reality capabilities, and it is unclear how Apple will handle privacy concerns.
